SEO Tools and Resources

SEO has moved past shortcuts and quick wins. What drives results now isn’t just content — it’s content that earns attention, builds trust, and converts. Storytelling plays a direct role in that. Used well, it can improve engagement signals, strengthen relevance, and turn traffic into action. Here are seven storytelling techniques to apply in your business blog. 7 storytelling techniques that drive engagement and conversions Use these to shape how your content flows, from the opening hook to the final call to action. 1. Hook the reader T.S. Eliot put it simply: “If you start with a bang, you won’t end with a whimper.” Many modern authors recomme…

If your law firm’s referrals aren’t converting, validation may be the problem. Referred prospects don’t go straight from recommendation to contact. They research, compare, and verify what they were told — on your website, in search results, and through AI tools. These are your highest-value leads — pre-sold through trusted recommendations and expected to be your easiest conversions. But when that validation falls short, even they lose momentum. This is the referral validation gap: the moments during online research when trust is broken rather than built. Here’s where referral validation fails and how to fix it. While this article focuses on law firms, t…

Adobe will shut down the SEO feature in Marketo Engage at the end of March 2026, according to its February 2026 release notes. The tool will be deprecated on March 31, and you must export any existing SEO data before then. (This page includes links to the export instructions.) The SEO tile will be removed from the platform on April 1. What happened? Adobe’s Keith Gluck said deprecating low-use features lets the Marketo Engage team focus on other areas of the platform. For your SEO needs, Adobe announced in 2025 that it was acquiring Semrush, a full-featured SEO and visibility tool. (Reminder: Semrush owns Third Door Media, the publisher of Search Engine Land.…

You could be ranking in Position 1 and still be completely invisible. I know that sounds counterintuitive. But here’s what’s actually happening: A potential customer opens ChatGPT or Perplexity and asks, “What’s the best [tool/agency/platform] for [your category]?” Your competitor gets mentioned. You don’t. Your No. 1 ranking did absolutely nothing to help you. This is the new SEO reality, and it’s catching many smart marketers off guard. LLMs synthesize consensus across multiple sources, rather than relying on a single source. This means you need corroborating mentions distributed across the web. The game has shifted from ranking to consensus, and if y…

AI bots could outnumber humans on the web by 2027, according to Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, as agent-driven browsing explodes alongside generative AI adoption. Prince made the prediction at SXSW, warning that bots are already reshaping how the internet is used — and how it’s monetized. Why we care. Search is shifting from human clicks to AI-generated answers. If bots become the web’s primary “users,” you’ll need to reshape your strategy to ensure AI systems can access, trust, and use your content. The details. Prince said AI agents generate far more web activity than humans because they gather information differently. A person shopping might visit five sit…

AI won’t make SEO obsolete, but it’ll change how the work gets done. There’s a growing concern that as AI systems improve, they’ll replace the need for human SEO analysis entirely. Early experiments suggest otherwise. While AI can assist with technical tasks and even generate usable outputs, it still depends heavily on detailed human input, structured data, and technical oversight to produce meaningful results. The real shift is toward redistribution. AI is accelerating parts of the workflow, raising the bar for execution, and changing where human expertise matters most. Why AI hasn’t made SEO obsolete AI aims to reduce the need for semi-technical expertis…

Google is testing AI-generated headline rewrites in Search results, describing it as a small, narrow experiment for now. What’s happening. Google confirmed to The Verge (subscription required) that it’s testing AI-generated titles in traditional Search results, not just Discover. The test is “small” and “narrow,” and not approved for broader rollout. It impacts news site but isn’t limited to them. The goal is to better match titles to queries and improve engagement, Google said. One example showed Google replacing original headlines with shorter or reworded versions, sometimes changing tone or intent (e.g., reducing “I used the ‘cheat on everything’ AI …

Google is testing AI-generated review replies in Google Business Profile. Why we care. Responding to reviews can impact conversions and trust. But generic AI replies could be risky and erode trust, especially on negative reviews where authenticity matters most. Response quality matters more than whether a business replies to reviews. What it looks like. Here’s a screenshot: The details. Google appears to be rolling out a limited test of Reply to reviews with AI inside Google Business Profile. The feature generates suggested responses to customer reviews. Users can review, edit, and manually submit replies. Availability is inconsistent across acc…

A new Google Merchant Center update changes how e-commerce sites must handle out-of-stock products, with direct implications for product approvals and ad performance. What’s happening. Google now requires that out-of-stock products must still display a buy button, but it can no longer be active or hidden. Instead, the button must be visibly disabled and appear grayed out. In other words, users should be able to see the button, but not click it. This marks a clear shift from common practices where retailers either left the “Add to Cart” button clickable or removed it entirely. Both approaches are now non-compliant. How it works. In practical terms, the requ…

As AI agents reshape how advertising platforms are used, Google is bringing focus toward the developers behind the systems and create content specifically for them. What’s happening. Google’s Advertising and Measurement Developer Relations team has launched Ads DevCast, a bi-weekly vodcast and podcast hosted by Cory Liseno. The show focuses on technical deep dives across Google Ads, Google Analytics, Display & Video 360 and related tools. Zoom out. This is a companion to Ads Decoded, hosted by Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin, which focuses on campaign strategy. Ads DevCast is explicitly built for developers and technical practitioners. Driving the news. E…

Account suspensions are essential to “maintain a healthy and sustainable digital advertising ecosystem, with user protection at its core,” according to Google Ads. For advertisers, though, navigating the suspension process can be a minefield. Suspensions can happen suddenly, limit what you can do in your account, and, in some cases, affect related accounts as well. Here’s what triggers account suspensions, the different types you might encounter, and what to do if your account is flagged or suspended. Why do accounts get suspended? Accounts get suspended when Google Ads finds a violation of one of its policies. The platform uses a combination of automated s…

Influencer content isn’t just a brand awareness play. It’s showing up in Google SERPs, Google AI Overviews, and AI answers, making keyword strategy an essential part of every influencer brief. When we brief an influencer, we assign them a keyword. Not as a nice-to-have, but as a required part of the strategy, usually woven into the script, the caption, the on-screen text, and the hashtags. That might sound like an SEO team overreaching into an influencer team’s lane. But in 2026, the lane lines don’t exist. Social content is search inventory. If your influencer marketing program isn’t built around that reality, you’re leaving a significant and measurable shar…

A quiet but important policy update is coming to Google Shopping ads next month, requiring some merchants to verify their accounts before running ads featuring political content. What’s changing. From April 16, merchants running Shopping ads with certain political content in nine countries will need to verify their Google Ads account as an election advertiser. Google will also outright prohibit some political Shopping ads in India. The countries affected. Argentina, Australia, Chile, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Why we care. Shopping ads aren’t typically associated with political advertising — this updat…

AI search citations favor a small set of formats. Listicles, articles, and product pages drive over half of all mentions across major LLMs, according to new Wix Studio AI Search Lab research analyzing 75,000 AI answers and more than 1 million citations across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity. The findings. Listicles led at 21.9% of citations, followed by articles (16.7%) and product pages (13.7%). Together, these three formats made up 52% of all AI citations. Articles dominated informational queries, cited 2.7x more than other formats. Listicles captured 40% of commercial-intent citations, nearly double any other type. Why intent wins. Query intent…

Reddit is doubling down on commerce, rolling out a suite of new shopping features designed to help retailers capitalise on the platform’s growing role in the purchase journey. Why now. Reddit’s shopping momentum is hard to ignore — the platform has seen a 40% year-over-year increase in shopping conversations, and, according to Reddit, 84% of shoppers say they feel more confident in purchases after researching products on Reddit. Despite this, Fospha’s State of Retail Commerce 2026 study identifies Reddit as the most undervalued channel in the media mix. What’s new. Collection Ads — a new Dynamic Product Ad format that pairs a lifestyle hero image with shoppab…

Google released its March 2026 spam update today at 3:20 p.m. It’s the second announced Google algorithm update of 2026, following the February 2026 Discover core update. This is the first spam update of 2026. Google’s most recent spam update was in August 2025. Timing. This update may only “take a few days to complete,” Google said. On LinkedIn, Google added: “This is a normal spam update, and it will roll out for all languages and locations. The rollout may take a few days to complete.” Why we care. This is the second announced Google algorithm update of 2026. It’s unclear what spam this update targets, but if you see ranking or traffic changes in…

For the past several years, marketing strategy has reorganized itself around a simple premise. Third-party data is fading. Privacy expectations are rising. The solution, we are told, is first-party data. Collect more of it. Centralize it. Build the customer view around it. In many ways, the shift was necessary. Direct relationships with customers are more durable than rented audiences. Consent and transparency matter. Organizations that invested early in their own data ecosystems are better positioned today than those that relied entirely on external signals. But the industry’s confidence in first-party data has grown so strong that it now obscures a more comp…

You know the feeling. You launch a new TikTok ad. Early metrics look great — low CPCs, high engagement, and a ROAS that makes you look like a pro. Then, a few days later, performance slips. Ad frequency creeps up, the hook rate drops, and you’re suddenly back at the drawing board. Some call it creative fatigue. On TikTok, it’s closer to creative exhaustion. A TikTok ad’s “half-life” is shorter than any other platform. If you’re still treating it like a Meta ad campaign, you’ll lose. To win, treat creative like a supply chain, not a campaign asset. Why TikTok creative decays so quickly On intent-based platforms like Google, Amazon, or Pinterest…

Does schema markup really benefit AI search optimization? Some suggest it can 3x your citations or dramatically boost AI visibility. But when you dig into the evidence, the picture is far more nuanced. Let’s separate what’s known from what’s assumed, and look at how schema actually fits into an AI search strategy. How schema fits into AI search now Search is shifting from surfacing a SERP with blue links to AI Overviews, generative answers, and chat‑style summaries that collate content in addition to links. To get your content to appear in this model, your site has to be understood as entities — singular, unique things or concepts, such as a person, place,…

WordStream by LocaliQ’s 2025 benchmarks show nearly 87% of industries saw year-over-year CPC increases. The cross-industry Google Ads average reached $5.26 per click. High-intent verticals are higher: legal services average $8.58, and the most competitive B2B categories approach or exceed $8 to $9 per click. These increases reflect structural shifts in how search results pages are designed, how auctions are optimized, and how inefficiencies compound across paid search accounts. Many remain invisible until a structured PPC audit uncovers them. Protecting the budget you already have — starting with your branded terms — is where recovery begins. Here are the five tre…

Google expanded its structured data support for forum and Q&A pages, adding properties that help you signal reply threads, quoted content, and whether content is human- or machine-generated. The update aims to reduce how Google misreads discussion and Q&A content. What changed. Google’s QAPage docs now support commentCount and digitalSourceType. DiscussionForumPosting docs now support sharedContent plus the same commentCount and digitalSourceType. The details. In Q&A markup, you can use commentCount on questions, answers, and comments to show total comments even if not fully marked up. answerCount + commentCount should equal total replies of any type.…

In November 2025, Google solved a persistent SEO reporting challenge: separating branded from non-branded search performance directly in Google Search Console (GSC). The feature is now fully rolled out to eligible properties. For years, we’ve relied on regular expression (regex) filters, custom dashboards like Looker Studio, or third-party tools — approaches that were often inconsistent and difficult to maintain. Now, GSC’s branded query filter brings that capability natively into one of the most widely used organic reporting platforms. With this shift, a key gap in SEO reporting becomes easier to address — along with some of the assumptions behind it. Brand deman…

LinkedIn Ads consistently delivers some of the highest-quality B2B leads in paid media. But it also has a reputation for being very expensive — for both cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-lead (CPL) metrics. Because of that reputation, I wanted to test a theory: that I could get low CPCs and low-cost qualified leads from LinkedIn Ads by creating a highly valuable, audience-specific piece of content. As an agency, we usually run LinkedIn Ads campaigns for our clients. We don’t really run many paid ads for ourselves. However, to have the most control over this test, I decided that Saltbox Solutions would be the guinea pig. (Disclosure: I’m the director of strategy at…

AI citations in ChatGPT are far more concentrated than citation distributions in traditional search. Roughly 30 domains capture 67% of citations within a topic. That’s according to Kevin Indig’s latest study, which also found that broad topical coverage, long-form pages, and cluster-based models outperform the old “one keyword, one page” approach. The details. Citation visibility wasn’t evenly distributed. In product comparison topics, the top 10 domains accounted for 46% of citations; the top 30, 67%. AI visibility was slightly less concentrated than classic organic search, but still highly centralized. Indig’s conclusion: you’re effectively shut out u…

Once upon a time, in the delightfully chaotic 1990s, web copywriting was all about exact-match keywords and relentless meta tag stuffing. As algorithms matured, so did SEO copywriting. Now, with proposition-based retrieval systems, writing like you’re in the business of tricking a crawler into seeing relevance through keyword repetition is no longer a viable strategy. Below is a playbook for generative AI-friendly copywriting, broken down into self-contained, high-density concepts. The ‘grounding budget’: Quality over quantity Large language models (LLMs) don’t seek less information. They seek higher information density. Google’s Gemini operates on a limi…